Fearlessly Speaking... Frankly Speaking!

“Frankly Speaking” for the first time turned out to be a balanced viewing. An anchoralways known to push his interviewees to the wall with his well-researched and direct questions, for the first time got well-prepared answers with equal ease. Modi is a man with a game plan and his interview with Arnab Goswami reflected clearly on how well prepared he was for this interview. Some clear observations:

1. Experience: Having faced so many television interviews Narendra Modi was fully aware of the possible questions he would have to answer, and his preparedness was very evident considering his answers were not impromptu but a well thought out input.

2. Bridging Agenda: Narendra Modi very effectively used the art of bridging the answers to his own agenda when he was asked difficult questions of whether he will look at an alliance with the parties he is currently ridiculing, case in point – Mayawati and Mamta Banerjee.

3. Consistency: Modi has been consistent in all the interviews given during the election as compared with other political leaders including Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal. The consistency in their communication has always been in question.

4. Consciousness: Modiwas fully aware of all the statements he had made in past, which makes him a very confident interviewee. He cannot be trapped by being misquoted or misrepresented. He was able to explain all his statements and the context of each statement whether it was on his stand on Pakistan or his statement made on Priyanka Gandhi.

5. Facts: Modi never went defensive during the interview as he maintained that allegations on him can never be provensince he has facts to back it up and is open for any kind of scrutiny whether it was on land allotment or Snoopgate.

Arnab’s interview with Narendra Modi also answers the big question of what is the reason behind the Modi wave. The man has the gift of the gab and has a very clear road map. As a communication professional I feel the strategy of taking Arnab Goswami’s interview, as one of the last for the pre-election campaign was a very well though out strategy as one should always be well prepared before facing the toughest interviewer. All the above five mentioned points helped Narendra Modi to project himself as one of the most prepared candidates for taking up the job of the country’s Prime Minister.